"It's not." Hector glanced at Will. "Would you go get my cell phone, tesoro?"
Will jumped up and hurried out of the room.
"So, did Tony ever tell you what he did for a living?"
"He's a mechanic." At least he knew that much. Lex realized he and Tony probably should have spent more time talking about their lives than having sex and talking about fantasies over the phone.
When Will walked back into the room with the cell phone, Hector took it then swiped his finger across the screen several times. He turned it so Lex could see. "Is that your Tony?"
"Yes," Lex gasped as he took the phone. He felt like crying as he stared down at Tony's handsome face. In the picture, he was standing with Hector, both men holding beers and sporting wide grins. "How do you know Tony?"
"He's my mechanic."
Lex was unable to prevent the tears that flooded his eyes and slid down his cheeks. "Can we call him?" He could think of nothing he would like more than to feel Tony's muscular arms wrap around him.
"Yes, but we need to be careful about this," Hector explained. "No one is supposed to know you are here. It could jeopardize not only your safety, but ours as well."
Lex glanced at Gladys and Teresa. "The whole keeping this secret thing."
Hector nodded. "Each person you've met on the railroad only knows a code name for the next person in the line. They never know anyone beyond that. Each place you've stayed is only known by that person. Not even the person who dropped you off knows if you're going to be taken to a house to sleep in or taken to your next stop on the railroad. That's the way it works."
"Then how…?" Lex gestured between Teresa, Gladys, and Hector. "Then how do you know them?" They had all seemed pretty friendly.
Hector smiled. "Teresa is my mom."
"Oh." That made a whole lot more sense. "Nice to meet you, Mom."
Teresa chuckled as she leaned into the older woman sitting next to her. "Many years ago, Hector and I needed help. The underground railroad gave us that help. One of the stops was Gladys here." Her smile brightened as she looked at Gladys. "Once I met her, I knew I'd found my forever home."
Oh, that's the way the wind blows.
"Tell me a little more about this guy who's after you, Lex," Hector said. "The more I know, the better I'll be able to protect you."
"I'm not sure that's possible, Hector. This guy is insane."
"I have a lot of friends, Lex."
Lex wasn't sure that would be enough.
"Like I said, I met the man once." At least as far as he knew. "I came home one day and he was waiting for me. He knocked me out. When I came to, he started spouting off stuff like I belonged to him and such. When I disagreed, he beat me unconscious. When I came to, I was handcuffed to my bed."
"Besides the bar, is that the first time you had contact with him?"
Lex frowned as he played over the list of events. "I think he sent me flowers, and my apartment was robbed, but the only things that were taken were some toys from my toy drawer, which was locked. And some stuff was moved around in my bedroom."
"What kind of stuff?"
"My robe was hung up and my clock was moved to the other side of the bed. Weird stuff like that."
"Kind of like he was trying to let you know he'd been there or more like he was setting things up the way he liked them?"
Lex shivered. "Both?"
It felt like both.
"He was insistent that I belonged to him, and he kept calling me his boy." It had been creepy as hell. "He left to go somewhere, and I was able to free myself and call the cops. After I was taken to the hospital, he showed up. I guess I went a little hysterical because the doctor gave me something that knocked me out. When I woke up, Dr. Green told me Carson had a medical power of attorney over me."
"How?" Hector asked.
